IT'S NOT ALL ROSY FOR TEXAS LONGHORNS BLOCKING OUT BACKLASH FROM CAL'S BCS SNUB.

Byline: Walter Hammerwold Staff Writer

BEVERLY HILLS - Bo Scaife's plane had barely touched down at LAX before the Texas tight end heard the first volley from an angry West Coast football fan.

``When I got to the airport on Saturday, this guy came to ask for a donation to help some kids or something like that,'' he said. ``But first, before he even asked me, he was like, `You play for Texas?' I was like, `Yeah.' He's like, 'Man, 'SC would smoke y'all.'

``So, as soon as I got here, I felt the unwelcomeness.''

The Tournament of Roses laid down the welcome mat for the Longhorns when they arrived late last week to take part in the Rose Bowl on Saturday. But doormat might describe the way some of the players feel after limited interaction with the Southern California public.

It seems that although Texas fans run to souvenir shops to send home postcards that say ``Wish you were here,'' some Southern Californians have been delivering to the Longhorns a message of their own: Wish you were Cal.

Scaife said Texas has endured its share of hecklers this week, as the general public vents its frustration over yet another controversial finish in the BCS selection process. Most have been benign, like the Cal fans who showed up in Golden Bears garb at the Longhorns' recent appearance at Disneyland and taunted the players as they walked through the park. A few have been profane.

``We're not liked by everybody,'' Scaife said. ``We're a long way from home anyway. So, it's no surprise. Everywhere we go on the road, Texas is just one of those universities that's not going to be welcomed everywhere. We accept that, and if anything, that fuels us and makes us more excited to go out on Saturday.''

Texas earned the BCS' final berth when it passed Cal for the fourth spot in its final standings. Cal had defeated Southern Miss 26-16 the night before the selections were announced but dropped from fourth to fifth.

Texas coach Mack Brown had pleaded with poll voters to re-evaluate his team's standing after its season-ending victory over rival Texas A&M. And his politicking likely helped the Longhorns jump Cal with a .0142-point swing in the final BCS rankings.

The change gave Texas its first BCS berth and knocked Cal, runner-up in the Pacific-10 Conference, into tonight's Holiday Bowl, where the Golden Bears will play Texas Tech. It also made the Longhorns the focal point of a growing wave of frustration fans feel toward the BCS.

``It seems like it's been going on forever now, all the BCS controversy,'' Texas tight end David Thomas said. ``To me it seems Auburn being undefeated should be the big deal. Going undefeated in the SEC is the real deal, and I would think they have the biggest gripe of anybody.''

The selection of Texas over Cal was not as clear. The Golden Bears are ranked fourth in both human polls to Texas' Nos. 5 and 6. And the Golden Bears held a lead over the Longhorns in the BCS standings each week but the last. The teams are nearly identical in terms of record and performance. Both are 10-1. Both lost to a team playing for the BCS championship. And both had their share of struggles in close wins against inferior talent.

``I think it's over and done with,'' center Jason Glynn said. ``Obviously, we were both in the situation of trying to get into a (BCS) bowl game, and we got it. It happens, and it probably shouldn't, but we don't control that.''

In addition to Cal fans, Texas might have drawn the ire of Rose Bowl traditionalists, who had hoped the game could retain its traditional Pac- 10/Big Ten matchup by replacing Orange Bowl-bound USC with Cal. This will be the third time in four years that the Rose Bowl has been without one of its partner conferences.

Texas defensive coordinator Greg Robinson, who grew up in Los Angeles and was an assistant coach on three of UCLA's Rose Bowl teams of the 1980s, tried to downplay the controversy this week. He noted that prior to 1947, the Rose Bowl selected teams outside of the Pac-10 and Big Ten and argued this Rose Bowl has a ``retro,'' pre-alliance feel.

But even the pre-1947 Rose Bowls had a traditional matchup, best of the West vs. best of the rest. In a sense, the Rose Bowl served as a chance for teams from the West to measure their talent against a strong national contender.

All of the Longhorns players made available to the media Wednesday said they planned to watch the Holiday Bowl, though they hoped to ignore the scrutiny the game might place upon them. Texas beat Texas Tech 51-21 in the regular season, and the Holiday Bowl will likely be used by fans and the media as a barometer for judging the merits of the Longhorns and Golden Bears.

Walter Hammerwold, [phone], ext. 2239

walter.hammerwold(at)sgvn.com

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photo, box

Photo:

(color) Texas coach Mack Brown and his players feel they deserve to be in the Rose Bowl instead of California.

Danny Moloshok/Associated Press

Box:

ROSE BOWL